


O Brother, Where Art Thou

by congressmanmabel



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: A Dab of Fluff at the End, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Series, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Siblings, and they'll overcome any obstacle, but they're strong kids, family love, these precious kids have been through so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 09:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6279619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/congressmanmabel/pseuds/congressmanmabel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel has a horrific nightmare hearkening back to Weirdmageddon. Fortunately, Dipper is there to comfort her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	O Brother, Where Art Thou

**Author's Note:**

> A GF-One Shot based on @mabel-pines's fairly plausible headcanon.  
> ( http://mabel-pines.tumblr.com/post/141158005756/mabel-pines-imagine-mabel-having-nightmares-about)

Deep within the heart of Mabel-Land, Mabel Pines was relaxing inside her colorful office. She comfortably sat on her desk, busily drawing pictures of cats in her coloring book with her colored pencils. The sound of the creaking door echoed across the room. She jerked her head up from her art work, hoping that her brother Dipper came to visit her.

“Dipper?” She asked aloud.

“Hey-yoooooo!” A loud obnoxious voice hollered. A slightly tall teenage boy zoomed through the office on his skateboard, leaving wheel marks on the carpeted floor. The guest vaguely resembled Dipper with the exceptions of the lightening bolts stitched on his vest, the backwards cap, and the neon green sunglasses that covered his eyes. Once the skater approached Mabel’s desk, he stepped off his skateboard, propping it up by his arm as he sprung into a laid-back pose.

“Whazzup my dudette?” The hip boy asked.

Mabel squinted at the shameless tool standing before her, confused by his presence. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“My name’s Dippy Fresh and I’m your bro, dudebro!”

The sweatered girl continued to quizzically stare at Dipper’s irritatingly radical counterpart. Dipper would never wear such atrocious clothing, spout terrible catchphrases and parade around on a skateboard. Most importantly, she knew that her real brother would never act like an annoying idiot.

She approached the skateboarding kid with fierce determination. “I know what my brother looks like, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t look like some ‘hip’ and ‘radical’ kid who embraces all of the terribly dated cultural aspects from the '90s.”

“But that’s what makes me so tubular yo!” Dippy Fresh proclaimed, while flashing the west-side gang symbol with his hand.

“Ugh, nobody says that anymore!” Mabel groaned. Now she was fed up with this terrible impostor. All she wanted was this jerk to leave, and for Dipper to arrive and snap that phony’s neck.

“Just go away you fake weirdo!” Mabel snapped, pointing her finger at the skater boy. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find Dipper, my _real_ brother.”

“Don’t have a cow sis, that little dweeb is dead!” Dippy Fresh cried joyfully.

 _“What?!?”_ Mabel screamed. She refused to believe what the demonic kid told her.

“Totally sis, some guy named Bill threw him off a cliff!” He replied with morbid enthusiasm.

“You’re lying!” She accused, pointing a harsh finger at the impostor, who simply shrugged Mabel's allegation off.

“Come on now, don’t be such a hater.”

Dippy Fresh removed his sunglasses to shoot out a hologram from his eyeballs. The floating blue projection showcased Bill carelessly tossing Dipper off from the edge of a cliff. The next image cut to the poor twelve-year-old screaming as he plummeted into the ravine below. Mabel watched in horror, unaware of the tears that slid down her face. _This can’t be true_  she thought. _This must be some dumb illusion Bill made up. Dipper has to be okay, he can’t be gone!_

“Hey, take a chill pill sis! I’m your replacement bro, and you’ll be so much happier with me than with that nerd!” Dippy Fresh told the upset girl. Mabel felt the fires of animosity for this creep burning. Her anger arose from the pit of her stomach, clenching her fists at this jerk's audacity for even insisting that he would be better suited as her twin. Gritting her teeth, she pushed the skater down to the floor.

" _YOU’RE NOT MY BROTHER!!!_ "

Dippy Fresh continued to look at Mabel with that greasy smile, unfazed by her violent reaction. “Relax! At least our Grunkles our here!”

Suddenly, two old men dressed in neon-colored, vomit-inducing garb materialized from thin air. One man was dressed in a teal, pink and purple windbreaker with matching sunglasses, a red sweatband and over-sized MC Hammer pants all while culturally appropriating the Flattop hair style. He carried a large silver boombox over his shoulder, that blared out mindless cacophony from the speakers. The second man donned a red bucket hat, white sunglasses, a Chicago Bulls basketball jersey, baggy jeans, Air Jordans, and two gold chains around his neck. He dribbled a basketball before spinning it on two fingers, no doubt trying to impress the distressed girl.

“Sike!” The old men chorused.

Mabel stared in horror at the ridiculous impostors, her mouth agape. She shuddered at the vile concept of Stan and Ford, her two amazing Grunkles, being replaced by Bill’s hell spawns. What’s worse was that the awful idea took fruition before her very eyes.

“I’m Stanny Swag!”

“And I’m Fordy Fly!”

“And we’re your cool replacement Grunkles!” They shouted in unison.

The elder twins removed their sunglasses and beamed blue lights from their eyes to present a hologram about the fates of her real uncles. Stan was burned alive inside the shack, shouting in agony as his flesh was seared by the flames. Ford, on the other hand, appeared to be petrified in gold casing, with a terrified expression frozen on his face. Bill threw the paranormal researcher onto to the floor of the Fearamid, shattering him into thousands of tiny pieces. Mabel cringed in fear as she witnessed the two snuff projections in front of her.

“Relax Mabel, these fly dudes will be better Grunkles than those old farts.” Dippy Fresh explained to the frightened girl. “Now how ‘bout the four of us get jiggy wit it in da hiz-house fo sho!”

“NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Mabel shoved the three hacks aside and ran out of the room, crashing through the giant twin doors. She entered a sparkly hallway, which nearly blinded her vision upon first glance. Shielding her eyes, she sprinted towards the magenta door. However, the hallway stretched itself further and further away from her desired destination. Mabel attempted to increase the level of speed she ran at, but she tripped and fell on the checkered floor. She hesitantly lifted herself up only to be roughly pushed back to the ground.

She quickly turned her body around to discover the three replacement relatives wearing maniacal grins. They encroached towards the poor girl, who crawled away in desperation from her pursuers. The phonies took off their sunglasses to reveal blood red eyes, glowing at her. She whipped her head left and right, hopelessly searching for an exit only to realize that there was no escape from her cruel fate. Fear consumed Mabel. She was left with no other option but to curl up in anticipation as the awful impersonators surrounded her.

“ _We’re your family now....._ ”

* * *

Mabel jolted up from her bed, successfully escaping from her horrible nightmare. She noticed the darkness that engulfed her as well as the glistening tears that silently fell from her eyes. The pitch black was quite the stark contrast from the vibrant, multicolored prison that was Mabel-Land. Sighing to herself, she actually preferred the inky blackness that currently surrounded her over the rainbow-fueled horror she just experienced. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she scanned around only to discover that she is in her room. Mabel took in the peaceful atmosphere of her bedroom; Waddles was peacefully resting on the foot of her bed, the posters on her wall were still in tact, and the various items scattered on the floor were sitting still, right where she last saw them.

 _But what if this isn’t really my room?_ She mentally asked herself. Mabel turned her head to the left only to notice Dipper sleeping comfortably in his bed. The girl exhaled a breath of relief  _He’s safe._ She thought, reassuring herself that her brother was alive and well. Despite the relief brought upon by her brother’s presence, she was still shaken up by her dream.

She wanted to discuss the situation with Dipper, but she couldn’t find it in her to wake him up for a number of reasons. Over the past six months Dipper was making excellent progress with his sleep schedule, with an average of seven to eight hours per night (and ten hours on the weekends). Mabel did not want to disturb her brother’s sleep cycle for the sake of his health. She also did not want to trigger him of Bill Cipher as well as the horrid events of Weirdmageddon.

Mabel also couldn’t talk to her parents about the nightmare since they were blissfully unaware of the her and Dippers’ supernatural exploits in Gravity Falls. As far as they’re concerned, they have no clue about the terrors the twins encountered over that fateful summer since the two teens only told them that they only went fishing with Grunkle Stan.

Mabel felt a sob escape from her throat, but she couldn’t disturb her brother for her sake. She grabbed the pillow from behind, thrusting it to her head so she could quell the oncoming cries.

Within two minutes, Dipper roused from his rest to the sound of stifled sobs. He rose from his bed and immediately went to his sister’s aid.

“Mabel, what’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

She removed her face from the pillow to look at her twin. Despite the tiredness that emitted from his eyes and the concerned look on his face, Dipper appeared to be fine.

“I’m sorry Dipper,” She said while she used her arm to scrub the tears away from her face. “I just had this dumb dream and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Hey it’s fine.” He calmly reassured her. “Plus it’s technically Saturday morning, so it’s not like we have get up early or anything.” He took a seat on the bed beside her, wrapped his arm around her back while softly rubbing her arm.

“Was there something in your dream that upset you?” He gently inquired.

Of course there was, but she struggled to put it into proper words. But she had to inform her brother, since he was so concerned for her well-being. Drawing a sigh, she started to explain her horrific nightmare.

“I....I was stuck in Mabel-Land, where Dippy Fresh told me that you, Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford were all dead. There were also two replacement Grunkles who insisted that they were cool enough to be my actual relatives. I tried to run away from them, but they captured me and told me that they were my new family.”

Hearing the descriptions of her nightmare caused chills to go down Dipper’s spine. He silently cursed Bill and that stupid replacement brother for terrorizing his sister. The thought of Bill trying to replace Stan and Ford with ‘cooler’ counterparts was very sickening. His hatred for the dream demon burnt furiously within him.

However, spite was not going to pacify his sister's fears. Right now, comforting Mabel was Dipper’s first and most important priority.

The boy turned to her and wrapped his arms around her in a soothing bear hug. “Hey, don’t let that dumb nightmare get to you.” He softly told her. “You’re in the real world surrounded by people who care about you and will help you out.”

“I know Dip-Dop, it’s just that nightmare felt so real.”

“True.....but even if the nightmares get intense, it’s still all inside your mindscape and you have the tools available to fight back. With your powerful imagination, you would be able to easily defeat those dreadful dreams like how you, me and Soos first defeated Bill in Grunkle Stan’s mindscape!”

Dipper released Mabel from the embrace. He noticed his sister's eyes widening upon realization of her powers within her own mindscape.

"You're right...." She whispered, a smile emerging on her face. She almost forgot about the agency she held in her mindscape. She had the abilities to fight back. Upon this revelation, a wave of courage swept over the fears stemming from that terrible dream. “Of course! I can use my endless supply of kitten-fists to smote my enemies!” Raising her fist in the air with great tenacity.

“There you go!” Dipper cheered. He was happy to see his sister’s bright and confident attitude resurface. Once she settled down and sat back on the bed, Dipper delivered one more important piece of advice.

“Mabel, I know that we’re gonna have a lot of obstacles down the road, but I know that we’ll overcome them together. You’ve been there for me whenever I was down in the dumps, so you know I’ll always be there if you need someone to confide in.”

Mabel smiled gently upon hearing her brother’s vow. Moved by his words, she engulfed him in a surprise hug, almost catching him off guard. “Thanks Dipper.”

Dipper was relieved that Mabel was feeling better. He loved her more than anything and it pained him to see her in distress. He would do everything in his power to support his sister through her troubles and to cheer her up. Even though Dipper had his own personal insecurities, his self-esteem would soar whenever Mabel reciprocated his familial affections. He used to think that was weak, but looking at his sister and their unbreakable sibling relationship, he thought otherwise. He was worthy of being loved.

“Anytime.”

Mabel felt much more at ease with Dipper’s aid, but she was still wide awake. Going back to bed now would be difficult. “Hey bro-bro, are you still tired?”

“Not really.” He replied casually.

“You wanna check to see if Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford sent us any emails?” She suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” The boy agreed, smiling at his sister.

Dipper got up to grab the laptop from his desk and immediately walked back to sit beside Mabel. He powered up his laptop, shifting his thoughts back to Gravity Falls. Ever since the kids received their own computers as a birthday gift from their parents, they exchanged their email addresses with not only their Grunkles, but many of the residents of Oregon community. The young kids regularly kept in touch with Wendy, Soos, Candy, Grenda, Pacifica, Fiddleford McGucket, Robbie, and Gideon. Thanks to the advances made in technology, it was almost as if Dipper and Mabel never left.

While the laptop was starting up, Mabel decided to talk with her brother to make the time fly by quicker. “Hey Dip-Dop, do you think I should go goth?” She mostly meant it as a joke but after telling Dipper of her technicolor nightmare, was unsure how her brother would take it.

To her surprise, he frowned as he pondered to himself before giving her a proper answer. “I’m not entirely sure Mabel. I think you should consult Robbie on that one.”

“True, but last I checked in with him, he’s starting to grow out of his dark phase.....”

The kids immediately noticed the Ghost Harassers wallpaper as well as the red signal next to the email icon. Clicking on the envelope, the screen turned white as the inbox appeared.

There was an unread email from Stan and Ford. Dipper immediately opened up the highlighted box and both kids silently read through the message.

_Hey kiddos!_

_I hope you have been doing well in school! It’s like what, February now? So you two are already past the halfway point in the school year! Give yourselves a pat on the back! :D *Sends virtual hug and noogie*_

_Anywho, Ford and I just had one heck of a time traveling through Eastern Japan. **I detected some peculiar anomalies near the Chiba Prefecture, and turns out there were three Kaiju (strange creatures) that were engaged in some type of battle royale. One was a giant reptilian monster that possessed the abilities to spew fireballs. The second Kaiju was a fear-inducing pteranodon. The last Kaiju was essentially a giant colorful butterfly, a truly majestic creature if I do say so myself. Stan managed to take some pictures of the gigantic Kaiju (we’ll upload them in our next email) before the altercation ceased. And don’t worry, Stan and I left the scene completely unharmed and are physically well.**_

_As of now we are currently sailing in the Pacific Ocean and planning on taking a pit-stop over in New Zealand. We’re gonna try to land near Tauranga and travel to Matamata so we can visit Hobbiton, because Ford is a giant nerd. **Ignore that last part of Stan’s sentence, but after watching Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, I just have to visit the closest place on Earth that resembles the Shire. We’ll send you pictures when we get there!**_

**_Also, expect a giant package in the mail from us soon!_ **

_Love you lots! <3<3<3_

_Grunkle Stan and **Grunkle Ford**_

Dipper and Mabel smiled at the electronic message. Mabel especially was happy to know that Stan and Ford were doing well for themselves.

“See Mabel, Stan and Ford are doing great.” Dipper reassured her.

“Yeah.” Mabel sighed blissfully. She was relieved to learn that her Grunkles were safe as well and that they still retained their unique personalities. Now that Mabel was alleviated of her fear-fueled nightmare, she could finally fall back to sleep. “You wanna head back to bed now?”

“Sure.” He responded. Dipper powered down the laptop and placed it back on his work desk. The light escaped and the room returned to darkness while the boy walked over to his mattress.

Mabel was grateful for having such a wonderful and empathetic brother who wanted to help her out. The girl felt compelled to verbally acknowledge how important he was to her.

“You really are my favorite brother Dipper and no one could ever replace you.”

Touched by the sincerity in her tone, Dipper gave her a soft smile. “Such words can only be spoken from the greatest sister around. Goodnight Mabel.”

“Goodnight Dipper.”

Mabel lied down and relaxed on the mattress. It did not take long for her to drift off to sleep. She dreamt of Dipper, Stan, Ford and herself sitting comfortably on a grassy hill that overlooked Gravity Falls, peacefully stargazing at the night sky.


End file.
